Diaz-Miller Headlines, Barry-Johnson Features at UFC on Fox 3

Nate Diaz (pictured) gets main event duty against Jim Miller May 5 on Fox. | Photo: Dave Mandel

The promotion announced via its official Twitter account late Wednesday evening that UFC on Fox 3, set for May 5 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., will be headlined by a five-round lightweight main event between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz and will also feature a potential firefight by heavyweight hitters Pat Barry and Lavar Johnson.

Diaz, 26, enters the bout after two back-to-back thrilling wins over all-time lightweight great Takanori Gomi and fellow contender Donald Cerrone. After tapping Gomi at UFC 135 in September, the Stockton, Ca., native thrashed Cerrone in December, setting a FightMetric record for most significant strikes landed in a single fight with 238, en route to a breakout unanimous decision win.

On Jan. 20, Miller rebounded from his August loss to UFC lightweight No. 1 contender Ben Henderson by tapping out Melvin Guillard in just over two minutes at the UFC on FX 1. The 28-year-old New Jerseyan is 8-1 in his last nine bouts, and holds a 10-2 mark inside the Octagon.

The 32-year-old Barry also found victory at UFC on FX 1 in Nashville, knocking out the much larger Christian Morecraft in the first round of their “Fight of the Night”-garnering contest, evening his UFC record at 4-4.

Johnson, 34, will make his appearance on a UFC on Fox card, as he made a scintillating promotional debut on the UFC on Fox 2 undercard, punching out fellow slugger Joey Beltran to earn “Knockout of the Night” honors.

Johnson also was on the bill the last time that East Rutherford's Izod Center played host to major MMA in February 2011, hosting Strikeforce's first heavyweight grand prix event. On the same night that Antonio Silva upset heavyweight icon Fedor Emelianenko, Johnson was armbarred by unbeaten Shane del Rosario in the first round.